Why mobiles are India's PCs

In a poor country, which claims to be the IT capital (or atleast brains) of the world, the PC penetration is an abysmal 5%. Primarily because owning a PC and associated infrastructure for internet etc costs a bomb. Besides a PC is an in-home device. Within telecom, fixed line telephony has been a complete disaster all along because it involved last mile wire connectivity infrastructure. That is something which the private sector will not do and the government cannot do. A mobile, however is a different take. First, its cheaper than owning a PC. Two, a young population which is bound to be out of the house a lot would definitely be better served by the mobile than a fixed line or a PC. Three, technically a mobile is always connected. And since all new technology (WIFI, Wimax) does not involve laying cable, it will continue to be effective. Now that is something worth thinking about. But how is mobile uptake among Indians? Exploring this reveals that India adds 6 million new mobile customers each month. Yes, each month. Yes 6 million. And the prime reason for that is the pre-paid card, which can be activated and renewed through a 16 digit number bought from any mom and pop store around town...